Princess Eugenie—the daughter of former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—cut off her father in order to save herself from the fallout of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, a royal commentator has said.
Andrew was accused of rape by Virginia Giuffre, who says she was trafficked aged 17 to London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2001 and made to have sex with Andrew by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew has always denied the allegations and settled a New York civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre out of court in 2022 for an undisclosed sum without admitting liability.
The Mail on Sunday reported Princess Eugenie had cut off contact with Andrew, while her sister Princess Beatrice has maintained some contact, inviting him to the christening of her daughter Athena in London in December.
Good Morning Britain, a major U.K. breakfast news show, discussed relations between Andrew and his daughters on Monday, with host Susanna Reid stating: “Princess Eugenie’s reportedly severed contact with her father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and it’s understood she did not pay him a visit at Christmas and is refusing to speak to him.”
Afua Hagan, a U.K.-based royal commentator, said: “To me, it’s not a surprise. No, I think this is definitely about self-preservation on her part and for herself, for her young family, for her husband, for her interests, for the charities that she’s associated with.
“I think she doesn’t want guilt by association. I think there’s also that element of him not apologizing to any of the victims in this whole Epstein scandal and we do know he’s denied all the allegations leveled against him.”
“He doesn’t seem to have any sort of remorse and that doesn’t sit well with her at all,” she added.
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace and Eugenie’s Anti-Slavery Collective for comment.
Why It Matters
King Charles III stripped Andrew of his prince and Duke of York titles in October to distance the monarchy from the toxic fallout from the Epstein scandal.
However, the royals also appeared to signal a desire to protect Andrew’s daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice from the backlash against their father. This included Prince Edward, Charles’ brother, as patron of the Outward Bound Trust, working alongside Princess Beatrice, who will be co-patron.
Needless to say, the princesses face an uncertain future in their relationship with the British public with both their parents having been mired by the Epstein scandal, their mother Sarah Ferguson due to a loan she accepted from Epstein.
What to Know
Among Eugenie’s charities is the Anti-Slavery Collective, which aims to “make people understand forced work in its complexities and help people translate their understanding into tangible and meaningful action,” according to its website.
In her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, Giuffre described her fear that she might “die a sex slave.” She wrote: “As a teen, I had been sexually trafficked by another pedophile even before I met Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But these two doubled down on my suffering. In my years with them, they lent me out to scores of wealthy, powerful people. I was habitually used and humiliated—and in some instances, choked, beaten, and bloodied. I believed that I might die a sex slave.”
Andrew has been linked to the Epstein scandal since he was photographed by the paparazzi walking through Central Park with Epstein during a December 2010 visit in which he slept overnight at Epstein’s New York house.
In early 2011, Giuffre did her first newspaper interview and a now famous photograph of Andrew with his arm around her waist was published alongside it in The Mail on Sunday. Ferguson was also forced to apologize that year for accepting money from Epstein to help pay off her debt to a former PA.
The scandal built as Giuffre’s allegations against Andrew were made in a civil lawsuit she filed against Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015 and then escalated further after a car crash interview Andrew gave to the BBC in November 2019, three months after Epstein died in jail. Epstein was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges at the time.
Andrew retired from public life after the interview but Buckingham Palace decided to strip his titles in October after the publication of Giuffre’s book, Nobody’s Girl and new emails, most of which had been released by Democracts on the House Oversight Committee.
The messages undermined his account of his December 2010 trip to New York, which he had told the BBC was made to break off his relationship with Epstein in person.
What People Are Saying
Afua Hagan, a prominent U.K. based royal commentator, told Good Morning Britain: “We saw Eugenie and Beatrice with the royal family at Christmas at Sandringham. Of course, Andrew was not there, not present and we cannot expect to see her in public with him.
“It doesn’t mean that she may not be supporting him privately but I think at this point it’s a very good indication that she has decided, ‘look, you do not have the values that we need to have not only in the royal family but in public life. Therefore, I don’t want anything to do with you.'”
Host Susanna Reid said: “This is not unusual in the royal family. We’ve got other royal rifts, of course, but this doesn’t just put her at a distance from her parents, but also it’s going to affect her relationship with her sister because we understand Princess Beatrice is taking a different approach, not stepping back from her parents.”
What Happens Next
Andrew is in the process of moving out of his mansion, Royal Lodge, after he was forced to give up his lease last year by King Charles III because of the Epstein scandal.
He will move to new accommodation in Sandringham, on the king’s private estate in Norfolk, in the east of England, reportedly Marsh Farm, which is far smaller than the 30-room Royal Lodge.
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